120 wheel in 126mm frame

Hi all, I'm almost certain this has been discussed before, but I couldn't turn up a thread on the specific wheel/frame dimensions I'm dealing with, so...

Basically: I'm attempting my very first singlespeed conversion and want to put a 120mm singlespeed wheel in an old road frame with 126mm spacing. The axle is plenty long enough, and when I tighten everything down, it seems to stay put (though I haven't actually test ridden the bike yet). Is there anything I should be aware of besides possibly needing to tweak the chainline once everything's assembled? I mean, is it OK on the hub to throw it in a frame that's too wide, will I have a hard time keeping it tight enough, anything else I should know or do?

If the frame is steel it won't be an issue - unless the stays don't "squeeze in" uniformly.
The only thing that's annoying is that when you remove the wheel and then reinstall, the stays may be wider than the [inside length of the] skewer in the open position..

here are two dumb questions tho: if I use washers, do they go on the outside of the locknut (ie, just against the inside of the stay), or should they go in between the locknut and lock washer thing (like when you use spacers to redish a wheel, as Sheldon describes on his page on the thing). And secondly: does anyone know where I can procure such washers?

Thanks again you guys -- I'm always very impressed with the patience all you savvy folks on here have for answering all these basic mechanical questions all the time...

You can put them like spacers or leave them loose at the inside of the dropout, the effect is the same, the elegance is different in both, your choice If you do not take the wheel ever out just leave them lose (if you are lazy too), or add them as spacers, same thing.

Throw some washers in there. No sense bending your stays if you don't have to. Putting them inside the locknuts will make wheel installation slightly easier, but it really doesn't matter. Put them wherever you want. Any washer that fits over your axle is fine, they don't need to be bicycle specific.

Originally Posted by Ex Pres

You may lose a little clamping force unless you use the new washers as spacers. Your locknuts are probably ridged, the washers probably not.

I agree. If your wheel doesn't move around in the dropouts, you're fine. If it does, put the washers inside the locknuts.

In practice, the axle can be quite a bit shorter than this...even 1-2 mm protrusion past the lock nuts will suffice to locate the axle properly, so, when converting a hub to the next wider spacing, it is usually un-necessary to replace the axle.